“I don’t think so,” said Lucky slowly. It was hard to imagine. But maybe anything is possible, he told himself, distracted for a moment by the memory of Alfie from his dream. That dog had appeared on ice . . . had that been the frozen River-Dog? Lucky looked about him anxiously. Is this place important? he wondered, recalling the dead dog’s words. Is it here that I’ll “know what to do”? The place I will do my “duty”? A crow cawed nearby, and his ears pricked up nervously.
Martha joined them on the riverbank. Gingerly she lowered a paw onto the ice and gave it a tap. She recoiled with a small whine.
Beetle watched her, wide-eyed. “Is River-Dog okay?” he persisted. “You know about her, don’t you? Is the cold hurting her?”
“She’s just sleeping,” Martha soothed, but her whiskers flexed uneasily as she watched the frozen river.
“Keep away from there!” barked Moon. “Get over here right now.”
Her pups turned and hurried to her.
“We were careful,” yipped Thorn.
“Careful or not, I told you it’s slippery. That ice is thin, and the River-Dog is sleeping underneath it. Can you imagine how angry she’d be if you fell through the ice and woke her up?”
She led the pups back to the temporary camp among the hedges, leaving Sweet, Lucky, and Martha alone.
Lucky could see that Martha was still worried. “River-Dog will be fine,” he reassured her. “When I lived in the city, the ponds in the park would sometimes freeze over during Ice Wind, but they would always spring back to life in Tree Flower.”
The black dog turned her brown eyes on him. “I know, it’s only . . . I can’t help feeling sad. As though she died and will never come back.” She drew her gaze away and shook her thick fur coat. “I’m just being silly. Tired, I expect.”
Before Lucky could say any more, Martha turned and padded along the riverbank. She sank down onto her belly and licked her paws as she stared over the frozen water.
“I should go to her,” he murmured.
“Not now,” replied Sweet. She craned her neck and her ears pricked up. The hunters had returned, Bella holding a pigeon in her jaws and Mickey and Snap each with rabbits. The dogs gathered around them next to the thicket.
Lucky wagged his tail approvingly. He knew it was tough to find food in this environment. This wasn’t exactly a feast, but it would give every dog in the Pack a much-needed boost.
The dogs watched hungrily as Sweet tore off a succulent hunk of rabbit and fell back, indicating that it was Lucky’s turn to eat. He knew that the Alpha and Beta, above all the other dogs, had to keep their strength up to protect the Pack. Still, they were careful to leave some good pieces for the weaker dogs. Not like the wolf-dog, who had eaten heartily, indifferent to his Packmates at the bottom of the ranks. There had been days when Whine and Sunshine hadn’t eaten at all. Lucky glanced at the dirty white dog. A brightness had returned to her eyes.
No dog will go hungry in Sweet’s Pack.
He thought of the half wolf. Would he be treated badly as Blade’s Omega? He had looked skinny, the outlines of his ribs just visible beneath his fur. But Lucky could feel no sympathy for the Wild Pack’s old leader. He made his decision when he sided with the Fierce Dogs.
As Sunshine gulped down the last of the pigeon, the dogs set out again along the river path. The Sun-Dog had pierced through the clouds, and a low light dazzled the frozen water. Soon Sweet led the Pack farther from the Endless Sea, forging a difficult path over churned-up earth and fallen hedges. They foraged deeper into the sloping valley, sniffing for signs of other dogs.
Lucky’s whiskers bristled, and he looked about. The landscape was beginning to look familiar. The number of trees was steadily increasing and the earth was richer. Lucky shrank away from the occasional fallen trunk, with roots exposed and flailing in the breeze. The forest was a dangerous place to be during a Growl. His fur prickled. What if Twitch’s Pack hadn’t made it?
As Lucky paused, sniffing, Bella caught up with him. “Do you recognize this place?”
“I think so,” he murmured. He caught the faintest whiff of Twitch’s scent on the cool air. “I think this is where I first saw Terror, the mad dog.”
Sweet had stopped up ahead. She turned to address the Pack. “It’s cold, and we need to cover as much range as we can and get back to the rocks along the riverbank before the Sun-Dog goes to sleep. We’ll move faster if we break up. I will lead one group and Lucky will take charge of another. Moon, I want you to take a third group. I will explore the flank of the valley that loops around the cliffs. Moon, double back through the forest toward the city, but don’t go too far. Lucky, you head straight on, into the center of the forest.”
Moon and Lucky barked their agreement.
“Be sure to call out for Twitch every few pawsteps,” Sweet went on. “We don’t want him to be caught unawares and think we’re trying to sneak into his territory.”
Daisy, Storm, and Snap were in Lucky’s group. They watched as the other dogs peeled off on either side of the tree line. Then Lucky gave a small bark and led the way straight through the trees, deeper into the forest in the opposite direction from the riverbank. They advanced slowly as the trees pressed closer together. Lucky barked for Twitch every few steps, climbing over the rotting undergrowth and watching for falling branches.
Large crows cawed in the high branches, and fallen leaves crunched beneath their paws. The forest of Ice Wind was very different from the golden forest of Red Leaf. The Sun-Dog’s light cut strange patterns through the bare branches, throwing twisted shadows over the uneven ground. Lucky felt edgy, keen for the Pack to be reunited.
A deep, furious roar rose over the forest, and the ground seemed to quiver. Crows took flight in panic and the dogs turned to one another, wide eyed.
“What was that?” hissed Daisy.
A moment later they heard the howl of a dog in pain.
“This way!” barked Lucky. He and the other dogs crashed through the forest, zigzagging between trees and leaping over fallen branches. They burst onto a terrifying scene.
A giantfur was rearing onto her hind legs. Her brown coat trembled with fury, and she threw back her head in a powerful roar. Drool fell from her jagged teeth as she flailed her forepaws ferociously. Her head skimmed the branches of a nearby tree, and her body was easily as thick as its trunk.
Lucky gasped, his hairs rising on end.
Cowering beneath the giantfur was a skinny, gray-furred dog. His tail was trapped under a fallen tree, and he tugged and scrabbled to free himself. His eyes fell on Lucky and the others, and he howled in desperation.
“Help me! I can’t move! I’ve been trapped here since the Growl. Please help! I’ve been calling to my Pack, but the only one who has answered is the giantfur!”
The beast gave an angry snort. Thumping her paws on the ground, she moved closer to the terrified dog.
Lucky’s heart raced. He didn’t know how they could defeat this beast, but they couldn’t leave the dog to be killed. Lucky ran to the gray dog’s side, barking furiously at the giantfur, who fell silent a moment and blinked at the dogs in confusion.
Snap took her cue from Lucky, charging toward the giantfur with a volley of barks. The beast seemed to return to her senses. She swiped at Lucky with a huge paw, but Lucky ducked and sprang out of the way as the giantfur’s claws skimmed his fur.
“Leave him alone, you monster!” barked Storm, rushing to Lucky’s side.
The giantfur’s shaggy head quivered with rage, twisting sideways as she released a deafening growl.
Daisy was barking, trying to be heard above the din. “Not like that! Don’t you remember the giantfur near the white ridge, when our old Alpha sent me out with the three pups?”
Snap and Storm turned to look at her, but Lucky couldn’t tear his gaze away from the beast. The giantfur’s massive head had swung around, her eyes small and red-rimmed. Spit gathered at her mouth, and her muzzle crinkled with fury as she focused her atten
tion on Daisy.
“Storm, remember?” Daisy appealed. “You were very young. Fang barked at the giantfur, and it only made things worse!”
All at once Lucky recalled the encounter on the rocks, which he and the dog-wolf had watched at a distance. Daisy was right! They needed to appease the giantfur, not anger her.
The beast was dragging a forepaw over the ground, leaving long ridges where her claws cut through the earth. She shifted her red-rimmed eyes back to Lucky, Storm, and the trapped dog, releasing another dreadful roar.
“Keep perfectly still,” Daisy urged. “Lower your hackles and look away. She thinks you’re challenging her.”
Lucky did what he was told, stooping to the ground and dropping his gaze. Snap and Storm copied his movements. Lucky threw a quick look at the trapped dog. He still watched, wild-eyed, but he no longer barked.
“That’s it,” Daisy encouraged. “Now you don’t seem threatening. Lucky and Snap, can you dig that dog out? Quickly . . .”
Disturbed by Daisy’s yelps, the giantfur paused to watch her while Lucky and Snap fell back, furiously digging to free the trapped dog. He gave a whine of gratitude as he wiggled his tail out from under the fallen tree.
“Now back away,” Daisy told them. “Slowly.”
The giantfur was no longer growling as the dogs shrank back toward Daisy. As Lucky retreated, he kept his eyes on the beast. She had rolled onto her rear paws again, hovering over the dogs with menace. Her lip shook, bubbling with spit. Lucky cringed, forcing himself not to run. He cowered with the other dogs behind a tree trunk, his eyes still trained on the giantfur.
After a moment, she fell onto her forepaws with a thump, turning away from the dogs, as though she had forgotten them. She took a swipe at the fallen tree trunk, rolling it out of the way. With angry grunts she pushed and shoved between broken branches and debris.
“What’s she doing?” Storm whispered.
Lucky’s voice was low. “I think she wants to get inside that cave.”
Sure enough, the giantfur shouldered her way into a hollow behind the fallen tree, vanishing into the darkness with a huff.
Lucky led the dogs a safe distance from the cave. The gray dog moved gingerly, pausing a few times to lick his tail. When they were at a safe distance, Lucky stopped to rest beneath a tall tree with a thick trunk, and the other dogs gathered around him. The tree was not bare like the others, though instead of leaves it had countless pointed green spikes.
Snap started cleaning her wiry coat. “Of course,” she said thoughtfully. “Giantfurs sleep through Ice Wind. I remember that now, they hate the cold. The Growl must have woken her, and then that tree fell in front of her den. Which means you were in the way too,” she said to the gray dog.
The dog shuddered. “I don’t think my barking helped. I was calling my Pack, and it must have annoyed the giantfur. I’m glad to hear it wasn’t personal, though,” he murmured wryly. He straightened up and looked at Lucky and the other dogs. “You saved my life. I don’t know how to thank you.”
Lucky took a proper look at the gray-furred dog. He was skinny, but his lean legs flexed with muscles. “Are you a member of Twitch’s Pack?”
“Yes. I’m Whisper. Do you know our Alpha?”
“He used to be in our Pack,” Snap replied. “This is our Beta, Lucky, and this is Daisy and Storm.”
Whisper gazed at Storm in awe. “Are you the Storm? The one who killed Terror?”
Lucky was instantly on edge, remembering Storm’s violence that night.
Storm cocked her head. “I was at the fight, and I helped to bring him down. I’m sorry about that. I know he was your Alpha, but he was a mean dog.” She glanced uncertainly at Lucky.
He started to rise to his paws, wondering if he would have to defend her. What if this dog was more loyal to Terror than Twitch had been?
Lucky was surprised when Whisper threw himself at Storm’s forepaws, down on his belly, then rolled onto his back with his legs in the air.
“Our new Alpha told us what you did. You liberated us from Terror! You saved our Pack! We are forever in your debt.”
Storm stared at him in surprise. “I was just trying to help my friends,” she murmured.
Whisper rolled onto his paws but kept his head dipped respectfully. “Then you are as loyal, brave, and humble as Twitch said.”
Storm’s narrow tail wagged at this, and she panted cheerfully. Lucky felt happy too. Maybe she was wrong to kill Terror the way she did, but Storm is loyal, and it’s about time she received some praise.
He glanced out into the surrounding trees. “Where is the rest of your Pack?”
“I don’t know. Everyone scattered when the Growl hit, and no dog has heard my cries for help, so they must not be near.”
“Is your tail okay?” asked Daisy, giving it a sniff. It seemed to have a strange bend near the beginning.
Whisper looked over his shoulder. “I think it may be broken, but it doesn’t hurt too much, and the main thing is that I’m alive. I didn’t expect to be when I saw the giantfur.”
At that moment Sweet’s howl rose over the forest, calling for Twitch. A second later, the dogs heard a bark in reply.
“It sounds like she’s found your Pack,” yapped Snap, her tail lashing.
Whisper gave a quick wag of his tail and flinched. “Ouch. I’m very happy, but I need to remember not to do that for a while,” he said with a good-natured tilt of the head.
Lucky barked to Sweet and Twitch, leading the rest of his group through the woods until he saw the swift-dog’s slender frame appear between the trees. Moon and her group were already there, greeting each of Twitch’s Pack in turn. Lucky made a quick count of the dogs: There was Twitch himself and his black Beta, Splash, Whisper, and five other dogs Lucky didn’t know.
The floppy-eared Alpha yipped and wagged his tail, exchanging friendly licks with his old Pack. “Lucky! You’re here!” He bounded forward with great agility, despite having only three legs. His Pack approached respectfully, pleased to see Whisper among the Wild Dogs. Lucky greeted Twitch, then hurried to Sweet’s side, breathing in her warm scent. Even though they had only been parted for a short time, he found that he had missed her.
“I didn’t expect to see you in the woods,” said Twitch. “I hope you plan to stay a while. You are all welcome.” His eyes trailed over the Wild Pack. “But wait . . . where is Spring?” He turned to Lucky and Sweet with an inquisitive look. “Where is my littermate?”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The Sun-Dog’s light flickered between branches as Lucky, Sweet, and Twitch climbed onto the huge, smooth trunk of a fallen tree. There was a faint hum of insects and the rustling sound of wind over broken twigs. The twigs shimmered white with frost. The two Packs were gathered a rabbit-chase away, sharing some kill that Twitch’s hunters had buried before the Growl. That was clever of them, thought Lucky. We should learn from that—store more food and think ahead.
Sweet turned from the Packs to Twitch, who was looking pensive. “It is good of you to share your food.”
Twitch flicked his floppy ears. “Of course. You are always welcome. And Daisy’s quick thinking saved Whisper. It’s lucky you came along when you did.”
Sweet’s voice dropped to a gentle whimper. “I’m sorry we came with bad news about your litter-sister.”
Twitch dipped his head in acknowledgment and fell silent for a while. Yips rose from the two Packs as they finished their meal and played between the trees.
“I didn’t know Spring very well,” Lucky admitted. “But she was always a good, loyal dog who put the Pack first. She never shirked her responsibilities and was quick to help and defend the others. She was brave until the end.”
Twitch gave a long whine. “I was sorry that a distance had formed between us since I left your Pack. I don’t think she really forgave me. I’m glad that she was happy there.” His whiskers flexed as he looked out across the forest toward the other dogs. “But I had my own Pack to think about.
I didn’t expect that, but I wasn’t going to abandon them. And it wasn’t as though I could return to the half wolf’s Pack. He took me for a deserter—he would never have let me come back.” Twitch shook his coat, looking about. He turned to Sweet with his head cocked. “What happened to him? Did he die too?”
“He’s alive,” she said icily. “He disappeared when we fought the Fierce Dogs. But then we discovered that he’s joined Blade’s Pack . . . as her Omega.”
Twitch stared at the swift-dog in disbelief.
“He thinks he’s on the winning side,” she explained. Lucky could tell she was trying to sound matter-of-fact, but he heard the anger in Sweet’s voice. “And Blade has all sorts of strange ideas about the end of the world.”
Lucky watched as Twitch frowned, his ears raised slightly. It was odd to see their former Packmate—the Patrol Dog too injured to be taken seriously by the half wolf—talking to Sweet, his former Beta, as an equal. In the wolf-dog’s rigid structure, dogs were too quickly dismissed. That will no longer happen in Sweet’s Pack.
Lucky lowered his head respectfully. He felt a sort of wonder that two Pack leaders could meet like this, without a fight. The half dog would never have talked this way. Anger fizzed at the back of Lucky’s throat. That traitor . . . Their old Alpha had been wrong in dismissing Twitch. He was wrong about a lot of things.
Sweet filled Twitch in about Blade’s prophecies, Fang’s brutal death, and the plan to kill Storm. She finished with her realization that they must confront the Fierce Dogs and Whine’s decision to leave the Pack.
Twitch cocked his head. “You’re going to fight Blade?”
“We know it won’t be easy,” Sweet replied. “But we have to put an end to all this.” She watched him evenly. “That’s where you come in.”
Lucky watched Twitch, whose eyes were fixed on Sweet. What happened now could change the fortunes of their Pack. Lucky’s muscles twitched beneath his coat, and he licked his lips nervously.
Sweet continued, “If our Packs join forces, we would have a real chance of overthrowing the Fierce Dogs. We may not be as strong as them, but together we would outnumber them. We have some great fighters, and we’d have the advantage of surprise.”